Baranowski inmate gets virtual 'life sentence' in guard stabbing

WORCESTER — A prison inmate was sentenced to an additional 42 to 45 years behind bars today for what a judge called a "vicious" knife attack last year on a correction officer at the Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center.

The sentence imposed on 37-year-old Rarn Pak during a plea hearing this morning in Worcester Superior Court is to begin after Mr. Pak completes a 7- to 10-year sentence he received in Essex County in 2010 on an arson conviction.

Assistant District Attorney Daniel J. Bennett told Judge Janet Kenton-Walker that on June 25, 2012, Mr. Pak stabbed Correction Officer Nathan Beauvais in the neck with a prison-made knife while the 28-year-old officer was making his rounds at the maximum-security prison on the Lancaster-Shirley line. Apparently unaware that the blade of the makeshift knife had broken off in Officer Beauvais' neck, Mr. Pak proceeded to thrust the handle of the weapon into the officer's body another 24 times, according to Mr. Bennett.

The previous day, Officer Beauvais had conducted a search of Mr. Pak's cell and had confiscated a banned cooking device and some rice, prompting Mr. Pak to vow to kill the officer, the prosecutor told the court. Mr. Bennett said Mr. Pak's plan to kill Officer Beauvais was so widely known among the prison population that several inmates called family members and told them to cancel their visits because the institution was going to be under a lockdown.

On the morning of the attack, he said, all of the inmates in Mr. Pak's unit gathered on one side of the tier so they could see what was about to happen.

When Officer Benjamin McGinnis came to Officer Beauvais' aid after the stabbing, he was kicked by Mr. Pak and assaulted by Soksourdey Roeung, Mr. Pak's cellmate, according to Mr. Bennett. The prosecutor said Officer Stefanie Erickson rushed into the melee and was punched and shoved to the floor by Mr. Pak. When Officer Beauvais, still with the knife blade in his neck, crawled over to help Ms. Erickson, he was struck again, Mr. Bennett said.

Officer McGinnis was then hit over the head with a crutch by inmate Jermaine Holley, according to the assistant district attorney. Mr. Roeung and Mr. Holley are awaiting trial on charges stemming from the attack.

Mr. Pak pleaded guilty today to armed assault with intent to murder, three counts of assault and battery on a correction officer, aggravated assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and two counts of assault and battery with a dangerous weapon. Two counts of assault and battery were dismissed.

Mr. Bennett, who recommended that Mr. Pak be sentenced to 70 to 80 years, said doctors were able to surgically remove the knife blade from Officer Beauvais' neck without damaging his spinal cord.

"I'm just thankful to be alive today," Officer Beauvais said in an impact statement read in court. Still unable to return to work, he spoke of the "physical and emotional hurt" he experienced as a result of the attack and thanked those who came to his assistance both on the day of the assault and in the months that followed. He also said he wanted to thank God for protecting him from further harm.

Officer Beauvais said he still bears scars on his neck and has some numbness in his left leg caused by neurological damage.

In support of his sentencing recommendation, Mr. Bennett said Mr. Pak spent time in the departmental disciplinary unit at the state prison in Walpole before the assault on Officer Beauvais and "was still willing to murder in jail." He said correction officers "put their life on the line" every time they report to work and went on to say that Mr. Pak made a decision to kill Officer Beauvais "because he was enforcing a rule he was supposed to enforce."

A prison disciplinary hearing landed Mr. Pak in the disciplinary unit for 10 years for the assault on Officer Beauvais.

"When he gets out of DDU, he can go back and be a superstar at Souza-Baranowski," Mr. Bennett said, adding that "Justice dictates the longest sentence possible."

Mr. Pak's lawyer, Adam T. Narris, recommended that his client be sentenced to an additional 12 to 15 years. While acknowledging that Mr. Pak needed to be punished, Mr. Narris said the prosecution's sentencing recommendation amounted to "a life sentence."

Mr. Narris also told the court that the Cambodian-born Mr. Pak spent several years in refugee camps before coming to the United States at the age of 8 and "never assimilated." He said Mr. Pak had difficulties in school and developed a mistrust of people, particularly those in positions of authority.

Before imposing sentence, Judge Kenton-Walker said the attack on Officer Beauvais was both "vicious" and "unnecessary." The judge said Officer Beauvais would likely have been killed "but for a lot of luck and perhaps divine intervention."

She agreed with Mr. Bennett that correction officers "do put their lives on the line every day" and said they needed to know that the court "takes a very dim view" of acts such as the one committed by Mr. Pak.

Accessory charges against another defendant in the case, inmate Stephen Woodard, were dropped by prosecutors Thursday after a defense motion to dismiss was allowed.